This invention relates generally to slide fasteners, and more specifically to the improved construction of a fastener slider including means for preventing the accidental intrusion into the slider body of one or two pairs of opposed or abutting edges bounding an opening in a garment or like article to which the slide fastener is attached.
As is well known, the opposed or abutting article edges bounding the opening to which the slide fastener is applied, which edges may exist on one or both sides of the fastener, are easy to become caught between the top and bottom wings of the slider body as the slider is moved along the rows of interlocking fastener elements or scoops. In an attempt to overcome this inconvenience, there have been proposed a slider construction in which both top and bottom wings of the slider body have lateral expansions of considerable extent, and another in which horizontally extending guide members are formed on both top and bottom wings.
According to these known slider constructions, the opposed or abutting article edges are prevented from intruding into the slider body by the lateral expansions or guide members on the slider body that are disposed between the article edges and the stringer tapes. Thus, in applications where two pairs of such opposed or abutting article edges are formed on both sides of the slide fastener, it is of necessity that the slider body be equipped with the lateral expansions or guide members for the respective pairs of article edges.
Another disadvantage of the prior art slider constructions is that the lateral expansions or guide members on the slider body must be so extended in the transverse direction of the slide fastener as to terminate close to the points where the stringer tapes are stitched or otherwise affixed to the article. The sliders of such construction are of course inconveniently bulky and aesthetically unappealing.